​​Writing Center of York College​
Megan Schoettler
Megan is a Secondary Education English major with a minor in Literary Studies. She has workd as a writing fellow and tutor at York for five semester. When asked why she joined the fellowing program Megan said:
"Fellowing is amazing practice for my future career as an English teacher and I love helping people."
Last year, Megan presented a rountable discussion and poster at the 2013 MAWCA conference. Currently, Megan is hoping to present an undergraduate poster at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 2014 and intends to submit her undergraduate research to an academic journal next semester. Megan has participated in fellowing over the summer for WRT 202 and the YCCOSP program and has created pamphlets and hand-outs for the Writing Center. When asked about her experiences as writing fellow and tutor Megan said:
"Fellowing has taught me more about writers and the writing process than I ever could have learned in a classroom. Experiences teaching mini-lessons, working one-on-one with writers, and particpating in research have been irreplacable! Overall, fellowing has shown me how beneficial a writing center (and fellows) can be to a learning community and given me a unique oppertunity to see how writers think and learn through different parts of writing process."
Brianna McCabe
Brianna is a Secondary Education English with a minor in Special Education. She has tutored at York for a total of 8 semester including summer sessions and has fellowed for 3 semester, one of which she worked with two seperate professors.
When asked why she became a writinge fellow, she said:
"I decided to fellow because I knew it would enhance my teacher preparation, it looks great on a resume, and it would be fun."
Since working at the Writing Center, Brianna had the opportunity to fellow for the Jumpstart summer bridge program with YCCOSP for 3 summers as well as to tutor for the Engineering department for 2 summers. Brianna also presented at the 2011 MAWCA conference and held a panel discussion with 3 other students from York. In her panel, Brianna discussed her experiences working with the YCCOSP students,
particularly what strategies seemed to be effective when working with English Language Learners. When asked about her experiences as a writing fellow and tutor Brianna said:
"I've certainly enhanced my ability to think on my feet and differentiate my approach with different students (based on their age, major, and standing writing abilities). My own writing abilities have been influenced greatly as I work with students on troubleshooting and even as I'm exposed to different genres and writing styles/decisions. And perhaps most importantly, I've learned how to get students engaged with their own writing-- getting a student to move from wanting me to "fix" their paper to suggesting their own edits is a wonderful experience, and I'll absolutely take those strategies with me as I teach the writing process in my own classroom."
Meet the Writing Fellows
Lacie McHugh
Lacie is a Secondary Education English major with a minor in Special Education. She has worked as a writing fellow/tutor at York for seven semesters. When asked why she became a writing fellow/tutor she said:
"The course was a requirement for my major, and I thought being a writing tutor could give me real life experience with teaching a class and doing one on one tutoring in the future."
Since becoming a part of the writing center Lacie has worked with the YCCOSP summer program, created the Writing Center bookmarks in their current form, created posters and bulletinboard for advertisement of the center, presented at the 2013 MAWCA conference, and created TWTC which is a mentoring program for the writing center. When asked about her experiences as a fellow and tutor Lacie said:
"I think I've learned many general teaching and tutoring skills that I can take to my future classroom, such as patience, active listening, different ways in which to describe one thing, etc. I've also learned how to better my own writing through the sessions I've participated in and observed."
Below are current members of the writing fellow staff who exemplify what it means to be a writing fellow. Each has worked hard to leave their mark and make a difference in the field of writing.